Ultimate DIY Vegan Cookie Board

December 15, 2017Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on December 15, 2017

This may have been the most epic blog post and photo shoot we’ve ever tackled on Oh She Glows. As my last post before the Christmas holidays, I think it’s safe to say we’re going out with a bang this year! This cookie roundup has a little something for everyone on your list, and I hope my treats inspire you to create your own vegan dessert board—big or small—this holiday season. If you make one and share it online, I’d love to see. Be sure to use the hashtags #ohsheglows, #osgcookies, #GETINMABELLY, and #SantaGoesVegan…okay, I suppose the last two are optional.

Yesterday morning all I could think was “WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO!?” There I was: in the throes of a nasty cold, buzzing around the kitchen and decorating cookies at the speed of light while Arlo played quietly with his educational toys screamed at my legs . I wish you could’ve seen me running between my kitchen and photography studio during naptime, pleading with the Nap Gods for five more minutes of photoshoot time. Luckily it all came together with some major hustling.

Check out these two behind-the-scenes photos! Who else finds their kitchen in organized chaos this time of year? ;)

Can you spot the gingerbread escapee below? LOL. It’s like a scene straight out of Shrek.

As you’ll see in the graphic below, we’re playing around with a new photo feature. Please humour me by hovering over the red dots near each cookie grouping to display a fun pop-up box. I actually find all that clicking around quite satisfying…almost like popping bubble wrap! I’d love to hear whether you like this sort of thing; if so, we’ll do more in the future.

[annotator_pro name=”vegan-cookie-platter”]

1. Gluten-free Snickerdoodles

A festive favourite. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and a dash of turbinado after baking. Recipe is online here. Or find the non-gluten-free version here.

2. Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats

Riffing on the classic Rice Krispie Square, these treats can be iced and sprinkled in advance for a pop of colour. I like to cut them into triangles for “tree” shapes around the holidays. Recipe available on the Oh She Glows Recipe App and on the blog.

3. Eggnog Crunch Biscotti

A great companion to coffee or a latte, these crispy eggnog biscotti have a wonderful nutty flavour too. If you don’t have vegan eggnog on hand any plant-based milk works in a pinch. Recipe on Oh She Glows.

4. Gingerbread People

What’s a holiday spread without gingerbread buddies? These are fun for kids to help make too. Recipe from the Oh She Glows Recipe App (inside the Cookie Lover’s bundle).

5. Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

With a quick prep and 10-minute chill, these bites are perfect for whipping up just before guests arrive. Recipe from The Oh She Glows Cookbook, page 235.

6. Triple Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Kid- and freezer-friendly for easy prep, any leftover cookies are perfect for breakfast the next morning, not that you’ll have any to speak of! Arlo LOVES these cookies. Recipe from Oh She Glows Every Day, page 205.

7. Ultimate Flourless Brownies

Rich and decadent, these gluten-free brownies with an almond butter base will make your kitchen smell amazing before guests arrive. Recipe from Oh She Glows Every Day, page 199.

8. Pillowy Pumpkin Snacking Cookies

Nut-free and kid-friendly, these cookies are a lighter complement to the board’s richer desserts. Recipe from Oh She Glows Every Day, page 217.

9. Lightened Up Magical Coconut Bars

Lightened up without butter and using unsweetened coconut, these bars still feel totally indulgent. Recipe on Oh She Glows.

10. Chewy Molasses Spelt Cookies

A holiday classic. I like to dip half in white chocolate and decorate with chopped candied ginger to punch up colour on the plate. Recipe is on the blog and in Oh She Glows Every Day, page 219.

11. Chocolate Macaroon Truffles

Rolled in matcha, these truffles add a sweet festive look to the board. For a more traditional macaroon flavour, you can stir shredded coconut into the truffle mixture. Extras make a lovely host gift too! Recipe on the blog.

12. Chocolate-Almond Espresso Cookies

Rich and perfect for dunking in after-dinner coffee or tea. Dip cooled cookies in melted vegan white chocolate for the ultimate treat. From Oh She Glows Every Day, page 207.

13. Peanut Better Balls

Peanut butter balls were a Christmas treat in my house growing up, and this lightened-up freezer-friendly version is perfect for making ahead before putting together your board. Recipe on the blog and in Oh She Glows Every Day, page 231.

If you’re looking for some festive styling ideas for your cookie board, feel free to play around with some of the following: fresh cranberries, clementines (bonus points if they have green leaves attached!), greenery (such as lacy cedar), or hand-written labels.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a shout-out to Nicole, OSG’s recipe tester extraordinaire, for all of the baking help. You should’ve seen the truckload of cookies she delivered this week! #cookiemotherlode

Well friends, I won’t be posting again until the new year as I’m working away on the blog redesign and also preparing for a couple TV segments next week (one of which is live on Your Morning on December 19th!). Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Insta Stories for all of my riveting day-to-day updates…heh. And if you have any recipe questions for me, I’ll be on stand-by to help troubleshoot, as always!

Last but not least, I want to wish you all a fantastic holiday season! I’m so grateful for your continued support, friendship, and enthusiasm for what I do. With love and immense gratitude,

This is INCREDIBLE. I’ve been excited to make Christmas cookies but this is next level! Love your stuff Angela. I’m making your cinnamon buns for a Christmas brunch we’re hosting tomorrow and can’t wait to eat them. Maybe I’ll need to reassess (and increase) my cookie making time to include some of these ones that I hadn’t considered…

Hahaha, thanks Angela! Buns turned out perfectly! They were a massive hit. The make ahead option was an awesome way to save time in the morning and to be able to serve them fresh. We also had a version of your happy digestion smoothie (with mango instead of pineapple and no parsley), your smoky and spicy bar nuts, avacado and cherry tomato on baguette, eggnog pancakes (regular vegan pancakes with sugar omitted and holiday nog instead of almond milk), and chia pudding parfaits. We had way to much food (as we always seem to) which meant leftovers for a second brunch for us yesterday!

I just want to thank you for being such an inspiration. Although I’m not a vegan myself I am toying with the idea and have been eating your recipes all week. You make it so easy.. and delicious!! We are so blessed to have someone like you in our lives. I find myself on your blog daily (let’s face it… multiple times per day!).

Thanks Alema, I’m so flattered that you love the blog so much…your encouragement really means the world to me.
And thanks for the red dot love…haha. I had a minor freak out when I hit publish and it wasn’t showing up. Glad you can see it!

Oh my goodness, Angela, these pictures are gorgeous! They are merry and bright!

The cookies look (and taste!) so incredibly decadent…I wish I could click on one of the pictures and add it to an online Oh She Glows shopping cart! Deliver to my door for our Christmas feast dessert and I’m all set!

Your Eggnog Crunch Biscotti is my new craving…I’ve been dipping it in coffee, tea, hot chocolate…now that I’ve seen these pics I’ll have to dip half in melted white chocolate and try it that way…yum! I don’t know if it can ever replace my number one fave (your Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are simply the best cookie ever) but it is my go to treat for this Christmas season!

Beautiful! I made your flourless peanut butter cookies (with sunflower butter) last night and they are fantastic!
I love your recipes Angela and I must echo other comments about how inspiring your are!! My husband turned vegan around 3 years ago and I followed suit soon after. Your blog has been so vital and I’ve cooked so many of your recipes now I’ve lost count. I also found your blog about freezer meals really useful when I was pregnant.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Sarah

Love this..like everything you do!! Thank you for all the red dots, I looked at the first few shots trying to guess which cookies they were..ha. I found if I held my thumb down and moves the pic I was able to see all the dots and names of cookies. Thanks so much and Merry Christmas!🎄

Thank you for your kind words! I noticed last night that the red dot image wasn’t working on mobile devices, but Eric worked some magic and now at least you can move it around with your thumb (as you found out!)…still some kinks to work out, but it’s fun.
Merry Christmas to you as well, Karen :)

OMGoodness! If this doesn’t make pinterest many times over then that’ll be a real shame…LOL. I LOVE the way you keep it real….screaming child, cookies on the floor…its the real deal…LOL.
I am going to try to tackle making some of these. Maybe next time you can give us ADVANCE WARNING….LOL.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from T.O. ;)

Thanks Dana! It’s pretty fun (that is, once we finally got it working!). I realized last night on mobile devices it wasn’t working properly (the image was majorly cut off on my phone). So Eric worked some magic and now at least you can scroll around the photo on mobile devices. Still some kinks to work out. :)

Oh my goodness. Your board is incredible. However, my favorite part is the behind the scenes pictures! Love the gingerbread boy making a break for it. I make plates for neighbors and they always say “these are so beautiful” and I think of the mess in my kitchen–full of baggies and crumbs and containers. Sometimes even an escapee! Our dog usually grabs those.

Thanks Cassondra! For the chocolate almond espresso cookies, I used crushed candycane and some festive regular red/green/white sprinkles from a bulk food store. Sadly, they are not the “natural” kind as I couldn’t locate any.

Thank you so much for the cookbook love Tina!
Yep, you’re right about them being the macaroon truffles! I left out the shredded coconut for this batch and coated them in matcha powder. The matcha is a bit strong, so next time I may mix in some icing sugar into the matcha powder before rolling.

Wow love your work. Never would have thought of a cookie platter for Christmas . Wow blown away. Have all your books and will give it a go. You are so inspiring . Thank you so much for being you and helping us all over the world to love cooking. Have a lovely Christmas and happy cooking. Newcastle Australia

I have to say these photos are seriously gorgeous. I had to save one to my phone so I can look at it when I’m super hungry and imagine how good they all taste. This is definitely one of your best photos ever! Happy Holidays!

Hey Vicky,
I used a vegan royal icing mix from Bulk Barn for these since I have to transport them into Toronto for a TV segment. But I do have a homemade frosting you can try. The recipe is in the gingerbread cut-out cookies recipe in the app (it’s in the cookie lover’s bundle on the bundles page). I’ll share the proportions below:

Merry Christmas Angela! It looks like a heaven served on a plate. These gorgeous assortment of cookies in a variety of shapes is a perfect treat for Christmas. I must mention that all your recipes whether it is a vegan banana bread or your taco wrap all looks delicious.

Hey Angela, OMG this is amazing! I will make cookies and peanut balls for sure with my 3 year old:) Question: What kind of recipe would your recommend to make cookies with shape-cutters? (like star-shape, tree-shape etc.) Especially gluten-free recipes for that kind of baking are really hard to come by…thank you so much!

The only cut-out cookies I have are the gingerbread cut-out cookies found in the cookie lover’s bundle in my app. Unfortunately, they aren’t gluten-free! However, a GF all-purpose flour may work, I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll have to come up with some more!

I had an inspiration while reading through the comments (well, actually from reading this gorgeous blog post – breathtaking, Angela!)…I’m going to try the matcha and then dip half the truffle in melted Enjoy Life chips, and roll the other half in crystal sugar. These are beautiful!

Can I just say your effort and craziness/running around during nap time was sooooo worth it!! Your spread looks absolutely amazing and I’m drooling and trying to figure out how soon I can make a bunch of these cookies ha ha ha. I just received the cookbook box set so maybe I’ll try the flourless brownies first :) Also, similar to another person’s comment, I will be making your cinnamon buns this year for Christmas morning, since it is a tradition in my family (Pillsbury’s..) but I’m staying out west for Christmas instead of going home to Ontario this year. Can’t wait!

Hey Alexa,
You’re so sweet, thank you! Let’s hope these cookies hold up for their trip into Toronto tomorrow!
We’ll be having the cinnamon buns right along with you on Christmas morning…I’m already so excited. Going to make them the day before and just bake in the morning while we open stockings. Mmm…can already smell them now!

I needed one more cookie to round out my xmas baking and I the chewy molasses spelt cookie is IT! I did a trial run yesterday (you know, just to be sure), and these might be my fav cookie of all time! Do they sell the vegan ginger molasses cookies at Whole Foods in Canada? These remind me of those cookies but maybe even better!!! Thanks and Happy Holidays!!

I love the new feature! This is fantastic because helps me both figure out what the name is for what I’m looking at plus attracts my eye to notice other things I hadn’t paid attention to. Yes, keep and use more in future!

I know you can’t put every recipe on here but I have to tell you my family’s favorite holiday cookie we have tried so far is your peppermint crunch cookie! My kids keep asking when we are going to make those again…which the answer is, in a couple days! Happy holidays!

This does not look humanly possible to me! I am impressed with some of the commenters who also get so much cooking done. I would like to try every one of these cookie recipes but at best that would mean one a month. Better to focus on daily meals but this is a goal. These are absolutely beautiful and I’m sure taste even better. Certainly much better than the Christmas cookies customers have had sent or even some home baked. It’s all in the love though! Thank you so much for your blog. Enjoy the holiday1

Thank you so much, Angela – this is such a beautiful post and it is perfectly timed right before the holidays. I’ve read your blog since the beginning and I am so grateful for you! My friends and family rave about your recipes. You are the reason I made the switch to vegan a few years ago. :)

What do you mean you were on another food blog?! hahaha…jk jk. ;) So happy you love the red button feature! Looks like we’re going to have to do it again soon! I have some fun ideas up my sleeve. Happy baking Tara!

Hey Kathy, Thank you so much for the red dot feedback…really great to hear it’s been so well received. :)
And my goodness thanks for gifting my cookbook, and for thinking of it in your own house too. That’s the best compliment ever. Have a great holiday!

I set my alarm early, 5:15, to roll out of bed and make cookies this a.m. (don’t judge me! :p). I had bought all of the “normal” (read: non-vegan and glutinous) ingredients and had resigned myself to the fact that I’ll make cookies for others, but won’t be eating any myself.

Just on a whim, I opened OSG…I shoulda known!

I am blown away by the variety. This is the most beautiful spread I have ever seen, and they are healthy!! LOVE the red dots. It makes it easy to navigate which one is where and what I need to print, etc.. Thank you for the timing of this and all of the work you put into your blog, app, cookbooks, etc…I have a safe place to find many GF vegan recipes I know will taste amazing and turn out beautifully.

Hi Kathy, Your comment put such a big smile on my face! You are such a sweetheart. I’m so delighted to hear how much you love the blog post…sounds like the timing was meant to be. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas too, and all the best in 2018. :)

I was trying to figure out how to reach you to let you know that I was shopping for collectable cookbooks and yours was listed on the one site I was on. I have both of your books but sadly not first editions. This is so wonderful that you are a collectable author! Congrats! I am a faithful follower and will continue to share your blog and emails with my friends and family! https://www.abebooks.com/books/cooking/collecting-cookbooks.shtml?cm_mmc=AMZ-_-Storefront-_-BDEX-_-imagecook

Happy new year, Angela. Hope you had a great holiday season with your family, especially Arlo’s first! Just wanted to reply that I like the red dots and pop up windows. Can’t wait to upgrade my phone to something other than a Windows phone so I can install your app! Also, your one bowl double chocolate chunk cookies are a favorite in our home. Sending best smiles your way.

Hey Danielle, Happy New Year!! I’m so happy to hear you love the red dot feature. Looks like we’ll have to do it more. :) And if you end up getting the app I hope you love it. It’s been such a fun project to work on over the past year or two. All the best to you in 2018!

Great post! Love the photos and the new use of the pop up boxes identifying the cookies! It’s brilliant! I am a visual person so I think to see what a recipe looks like finished. Love you,love your site, love your recipes! Thank you for sharing!

Hi Angela, Happy New Year! This is a beautiful and so inspiring post (like all your posts!) that summarizes so many desert and sweet snacks ideas! My family and I are vegan Mon-Fri for more than 6 months now and we love your site and your app and your recipes. Thank you for being so inspiring and making this lifestyle change of ours so easy and so fun!!

These are the BEST cookies I have ever made- vegan or not! I just made them as the start of my son’s 6th birthday and they were perfect. I will be saving this recipe for sure. Now I need to look up your other recipes- are all your cookies this good??

That’s strange that it seemed to dissappear. This can happen if you have either reinstalled the app or got a new phone. The ginger bread cookies are in the “Cookie Lover’s Bundle”. You can unlock it for free from the bundles page in the app, and if you have purchased any other bundles you will probably want to unlock those as well, if you scroll down to the bottom of the bundles page there is a button for “Restore Purchases”. Hope that helps!